Air-brake for cars and locomotives



-(N0 Model.)

- P. REILLY.

AIR BRA-KB FOR ems AND LOGOMOTIVES.

Patnted Dec. 18, 1883 Witnesses" Hmwum npm. Wa ingth. n c.

Mrs STATES PATENT Fries,

PATRICK REILLY, OF MATTOON, lLLINOIS.

AIR-BRAKE FOR CARS AND LOCOMOTlVES.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 290,269, dated December 18, 1883.

Application filed October 19, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern/t Be it known that I, PATRICK ltniTLLY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mattoon, in the county of Goles and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Air-B akes for Cars and Locomotives, of which the following, in connection with the annexed drawings and letters of reference,

marked thereon, is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in automatic air-brakes, the same being specially applicable to the construction known as the Westinghouse automatic air brake, for which Letters Patent were granted April 13, 1869; but it is not limited thereto, as it may be applied advantageously to other analogous ai rbrakes.

It consists in the combination, with an automatic air-brake, of an additional line of pipe having a suitable cook or cocks, the said line of pipe serving as a safety-exhaust from the auxiliary reservoirs in case of an; emergency, and being applied under the train of cars, connected with the auxiliary air-reservoirs provided with the usual pipe-couplings, and extended up to the cab of the engineer, so that the engineer has immediate control thereof; and its object is to provide for the exhaustion of all the air through the auxiliary reservoirs and said additional line of pipe whenever the brakes become set from accidental causesas, for instance, from a hose breaking, pipe leaking, or otherwise-and thus ,eiieeting an instantaneous release of all the brakes, and preventing very serious damage or loss of life in times of accident, or in an emergency when it is all important that the brakes shall all be set free without a moments delay.

In operating with the W'estinghouse airbrake it is found that if it becomes set from any of the above-mentioned causes the bra-keshoes remain fixed upon the wheels and the train cannot be moved until'thetrain-men get under the ears and allow the air toescape from the reservoirs, and this canscs, ,delay to the train, which, with the passenger-trains, is quite an item, and, more important, it often results in serious accidents.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a bottom view of a car provided ,with my invention and such parts of a Westinghouse brake as are necessary to aid in the elucidation of the same; and Fi 2 is a bottomview of a tender and the rear portion of a locomotive, showing my invention and parts of the said air-brake. and other portions of the train, being unnecessary, are omitted in the drawings.

A represents a car, B a tender, and O the rear portion of a locomotive, all inverted.

D is the air-supply pipe of the WVest-inghouse airbrake, connecting the auxiliary air-reservoirs E of the car and tender with the main air-reservoir F on the locomotive.

G are the brake-cylinders, operating the brakes as described in the Westinghouse patent, and connected with their respective reservoirs E by means of pipes g, provided with three-way ope 'ating-cocks e, by means of whlch the air is admitted to or exhausted from the brake-cylinders; and g are housings of springs employed for forcing the pistons back, in order to release the brakes.

H is my exhaust line of pipe, connected, as at m, with the reservoirs E by hollow T-j oints, or, other suitable means, and having its sections coupled between the cars and tender of a train by means of suitable couplings, h,sim1- lar to those commonly used on air-pipes of airbrakes. Suitable cocks, h, are provided near the ends of the cars, or in the couplings, in order to close the continuous line of pipe H at the end of a train, and thus prevent a constant blowing off of the compressed air from the reservoirs E. The pipe H is extended to the engineers cab or platform 0 of the lecomotive G, where it is provided with a cock, h, within convenient reach of the engineer. This cock h serves as the means for allowing the air from the reservoirs E and the other parts connected therewith to escape into the open atmosphere when it is necessary to suddcnly release the brakes. The pipe H may be turned up and fastened to the breastplate of the locomotive-boiler, and the cock h may be attached to it at such height as to enable the engineer to distinctly hear the air escaping from it, and thus serve as an indicator of the fact that the brake is in operative condition for.- releasingthe brake-shoes.

It will be understood that the engineer shuts off the air-supp] y of the reservoirs E before he opens the cock If; and also that the airbrakc as now constructed, and to which my The wheels, trucks, brake-shoes,

invention is added, will be provided with all the appliances used for controlling and manipulating it.

\Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, with an air-brake, of the exhaust line of pipe H, with the auxiliary reservoirs E, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The combination, with the air-reservoirs of an air-brake, of a supply-pipe, D, and an air-exhaust pipe, H, both under the immediate control of the engineer, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. The combination, with an air-brake, of I 5 PATRICK REILLY.

\Vitn csses:

W. REILLY, I. U. KUR'rZ. 

